Facilities & Services

The services, facilities and hospitality at Appi Kogen are exceptional. Consequently Appi wins our best ski resort in Japan award for the best facilities and services.

The Resort Centre and Appi Plaza have extensive facilities for day trippers, and there are further amenities at the Appi Grand Hotel and the villas.

The quality of the services and facilities is somewhat symbolised by the presence of high pressure air hoses at the front of the ski-in entrance to the Appi Grand Hotel. These are fantastic to blow the snow off your equipment and boots (and also to scare an unsuspecting mate). These air hoses are typically only found in very upmarket ski resorts in the USA (and at Hanazono at Niseko).

Facilities for Children Appi Kogen also wins a Powderhounds award for the best family ski resort in Japan, and for good reason.

Firstly the Appi Family Park is very impressive. Conveniently situated in front of the Hotel Appi Grand, the fenced off park provides buckets of fun for kids. In addition to lots of playground equipment, the park has magic carpets to service tubing, tobogganing, and a ski area. The park is open during the day (except from 12-1pm on weekdays) and a one day pass for ages 3 and over costs 800 yen, or 500 yen for a lift pass holder. A ticket for a guardian costs 200 yen.

Child care is available in the Appi Plaza for children aged 1-10 years old. The only potential limitation is that child care is not provided from 12 noon to 1:30pm so you have to pick up the kids for lunch. Reservations are highly recommended. Costs are ¥2,600 for a half day and ¥3,700 for a full day (2010-11 season rates).

A good place to take the little kids for lunch is Makibu Hall in the Appi Resort Centre. They serve a variety of kids’ meals and have an indoor play area with lots of toys and equipment.

Appi Kogen also has many other kids’ activities in the Snow Play Area at Appi Ranch next to the hotel. Additionally, there’s the night illumination area and Appi frequently has different family festivals.

For kids that can’t quite ski yet, there’s a free theatre for tots and their parents that operates from 10am-3pm, but there’s no guarantee that the shows will be in English.

Ski School and Snowboard School The ski and snowboard school is headed up by a very high profile instructor, Eiichi Kodama, who has decades of experience under his belt. In addition to being the Chairman of the Ski Instructor Association of Japan, he’s spent a lot of seasons in Austria, so the teaching methods are largely based on that of the Austria National Ski School. Their motto is “Newly, Pleasantly and Scientifically” which sounds very lovely!

The only ski and snowboard lessons that are conducted in English are private lessons for which it’s very wise to make a reservation. Costs are ¥19,000 for 2 hours and ¥28,500 for 4 hours, with a maximum of 5 guests per instructor (2010-11 rates).

The Nature School offers telemark lessons for beginners and intermediates.

Equipment Rental Appi Kogen has a large ski and snowboard rental shop at the Resort Centre as well as rental stations at the Hotel Appi Grand and Appi Grand Villa 3. The hire gear is mainly Salomon and Atomic and is reasonably new. Equipment includes a large range of skis, snowboards, boots, snow clothing, and accessories such as goggles and gloves.

They cater well to Westerners and have clothing and boots in sizes that range from small kids up to XXXL adults. They have a range of powder skis for rent, and have an Unlimited Pass which allows you to change the skis or snowboard as often as you like so that you can demo various models. Appi also offers a “try before you buy” system whereby they sell some of their demo equipment in the second half of the season.

Eating On Mountain / Lunch Time Restaurants The Sailer Restaurant is on-mountain at the base of the Sailer gondola and serves up the usual fare such as ramens and curries. During regular season it’s only open on weekends and holidays. The Red House (which is purple in colour!!) is located mid-mountain and serves similar food.

If beginners’ legs get weary when tackling the 5.5km Yamabato Run, there’s the Nishi Mori rest house half way down.

At the base area there is a food court with five different restaurants. These include a Chinese noodle restaurant, a ramen noodle restaurant, curries at Masala, pizza and spaghetti at Olive, and Japanese and Korean cuisine at Hachimantai. The Resort Centre also has eateries including a sandwich bar and café, a family restaurant (Makiba), and a crepe stand.

If you’ve been burning up plenty of energy on the slopes, get a big lunch time feed at the Arlberg restaurant. The great value for money buffet (for only 1,500 yen for adults) includes a huge range of curries, pasta and gelati. Yum! There’s also an Italian buffet at the Appi Grand Villa 3.

For something very different, have lunch at Appi Ranch in one of the igloos (kamakura). Here they serve up very special meals including seafood milk hot pots, cheese fondue, and cheese pizza. Really yum! During 2011-12 the Appi Ranch won't be operational, but the kamakura lunch will operate outside the Hotel Appi Grand.

Banking Facilities Budget well prior to visiting because Appi does not have an ATM that accepts international cards.

There is access to an ATM in Morioka at the post office near the train station.

English Assistance The Appi Grand Hotel has a special service for English speaking guests with hosts that can assist with enquiries and provide a concierge service.